House-trained 1 yr peekapoo is peeing all over my house!

by JJ
(TN)

I have recently adopted a 1 year old peekapoo girl. I was told she was completely house trained and up until about the 3rd week, she did fine. She has totally become best friends with one of my sons and is really only happy playing with him - she whines for him when he's outside playing or not at home.

Well, the past couple of weeks, she has peed on everything from my couch, the carpet in various places throughout the house to my sons bed - twice! We take her outside so often that it is really ridiculous how long we focus on her potty habits just to try to prevent accidents.

During the week, she is crated for the most part of the day until the kids are home from school. She goes out just fine most days. Some days though she will have an accident immediately after she goes outside, which boggles my mind.

The weekends when we do not crate her is when she is having the most accidents on furniture or our sons bed. I think it has something to do with his attention towards her because they play hard when they do play and she loves it and truly is sad when he's outdoors or not at home. But then sometimes there is no apparent reason - like tonight on his bed. She had just spent 10 minutes being walked and peeing outside then marched up the stairs onto my sons bed while he was changing clothes and went right in the middle of his bed...then went quietly back downstairs to hide under my bed. Only when my son had finished dressing did he notice what she had done.

I don't understand what is going on or how to fix this, but we are at a point where she might need to go back to her previous owner if I can't figure something out soon. My patience is really thin right now.

Any ideas????




Hi JJ
This certainly must be very frustrating for you, and I'm sorry you're having these difficulties.

However, it's not terribly surprising, or unusual, for a pup/dog to experience some regression in potty training (or other areas) when they're under stress.

Your dog is most likely reacting to her anxiety and stress due to coming into a new home and having a new family. She's obviously bonded with your son, and the fact that he's not there a lot of the time increases her anxiousness.

Of course, that's something she will adjust to, but it will take some time, and lots of love and patience. She isn't doing this deliberately (dogs truly can't think that way), but is expressing her unhappiness and worry, on a subconscious level.

The only way to handle this is to treat her as though she isn't housebroken, and use her crate a lot more when you are all home. It's also important to make sure she has plenty of time to 'potty' when she's outside, and crate her when she comes in if you have any doubts about whether or not she's finished.

Supervise her very closely, just as though she were a baby, and learn the body language that shows she's about to 'go'. Circling, intense sniffing and so on are common signs.

There's bound to be an adjustment period for this dog, and unfortunately the fact that you are upset (understandably as that might be to us humans) with her, will be making her more nervous. She will feel the undercurrents of tension, dogs are very intuitive.

As far as is possible, be patient and calm with her. Correct her when she makes a mistake, always reward her when she is successful, and watch her like a hawk in the meantime. I would also suggest that you have your veterinarian check her out to make sure there isn't any health issue (such as a urinary tract infection) that is causing her to pee uncontrollably. This is a fairly common cause of excessive 'bathroom breaks', often with the dog only passing a few drops at each trip.

This situation will most likely resolve itself within a few weeks, as she adjusts to her new situation and starts to feel more secure and 'at home'.

I'd also recommend getting a really effective, enzymatic odor remover (such as Nature's Miracle) to clean any area, carpets, bedding etc. that she has eliminated on.


If after several weeks you aren't seeing any significant improvement (which is unlikely), you may want to consult a dog behavior specialist (your vet could probably recommend one) and get some extra help.

I wish you the best of luck!